25+ years & 200+ deals – meet the prolific pharma investor

In this episode of Molecule to Market, you’ll go inside the outsourcing space of the global drug development sector with Banks Bourne, Founder & Chief Executive Officer at Bourne Partners.

Your host, Raman Sehgal, discusses the pharmaceutical and biotechnology supply chain with Banks, covering:

• How making a bet in the right place at the right time sparked an extraordinary journey in pharma investing.
• The founding of Bourne Partners and a twenty five plus year ride through multiple market cycles.
• Lessons from hundreds of deals, and why the best investments are often the most complex and hardest won.
• Why running from ego and listening obsessively to clients is one of the most underrated advantages in private equity.
• Why private equity has become increasingly commoditised, and why Banks believes momentum is building and sentiment is turning positive heading into 2026.

As Founder and CEO, Banks oversees all business operations and direct investment opportunities at Bourne Partners. He and the firm have been party to more than $10 billion of transactions in the pharmaceutical (“pharma”), pharma services, and consumer healthcare sectors. Banks is also the founder of Tanner Pharma Group, a pharma services company dedicated to providing managed access, commercialization, and clinical trials services to patients and partners in more than 100 countries.

For almost 20 years, Bourne Partners has transacted with nearly all major pharmaceutical and specialty pharmaceuticals companies around the world, including Banks’ initial investment in King Pharmaceuticals in the late 1990’s. This investment introduced Banks to the pharmaceutical world and jump started his interest in the healthcare sector. Since then, he has invested in more than 200 private companies / assets.

While Banks has derived great satisfaction by offering focused advisory services to, and investing in, pharma, healthcare, and consumer-oriented companies that need strategic and operational insights, he is even more gratified knowing that his work has helped companies to improve the health and well-being of patients across the world. Banks is passionate about providing healthcare, and specifically pharmaceuticals, to less fortunate patients, as demonstrated by supporting The Max Foundation, Partners in Health, The Bourne Foundation, The Levine Children’s Hospital, and other non-profit organizations. He received a B.A. degree in Business Management (Magna Cum Laude) from North Carolina State University and an M.B.A. from Wake Forest University. He is a member of Young Presidents Organization (YPO).

Molecule to Market is also sponsored by Bora Pharmaceuticals, and supported by Lead Candidate. Please subscribe, tell your industry colleagues and join us in celebrating and promoting the value and importance of the global life science outsourcing space. We’d also appreciate a positive rating!